Got ridiculed last time

First of all, we don’t have many skunks down here. I don’t know why, but we just don’t. I can remember in my younger years they seemed to be dead every other mile on the roads, not anymore.

With that said, I’ve only caught one skunk in my life (knocking on wood right now) but when I did everyone told me to take that trap up and soak it is a running creek for a couple of weeks to get that skunk smell off. Someone even posted a mixture to soak it in.

Well, I got thinking…why??? I mean we buy skunky lures and even baits so why try and take that scent off. Apparently when I caught that skunk it sprayed everything it had and then some. You could smell that location from inside the truck a good 50+ yards away. I decided the heck with changing the trap, I just reset it. Within a week, without using lure or bait, I caught a fox, possum, fox, bobcat, and finally another fox. I eventually had to pull it because the catch circle looked like a hog wallow! I eventually moved to another property and you could tell that trap because of the smell. One of my first, first night catches, came off that trap and it was a coyote.

So before all this rain came my son calls and said I’ve got something really bad caught and since it’s “your” trap I’m using you can come let it out. I thought oh Lord he’s done caught a deer or one of their $25K bird dogs! When those guesses weren’t the answer I told him I give up. He sent me a pic of a skunk, lol!!

He said ok, I’ve ruined a pair of boots just killing it and getting it out of the trap, but I’ll come back tomorrow or this afternoon after the smell dies down and pull it…what you want me to do with it?

I told him to suck it up and just remake it. Don’t add anything, use a throw away pair of gloves and make it a flat set with minimal guiding. Well nothing Sat or Sun morning (2” of rain), but this morning he had a coyote bouncing in the set. He said it still smells of skunk, but not quite as bad. I told him I know he has to pull or trip by Wednesday, but just reset it and don’t add anything and see what tomorrow morning or Wednesday morning brings.

So I guess I’m asking again, never got a good answer, why do y’all pull a skunk smelling trap? It’s not like the trap is the only thing smelling of skunk, so why replace or try and clean it?

I don’t, I’ve caught a lot of fur in skunked up traps. Red fox especially, they can’t seem to resist a skunk remake. In fact, I love catching skunks, if for no other reason than I know that set is now a fox magnet.

I've never pulled the trap either. Just remake set. Pull trap on pull day with all the rest of em. Never had any problems. SEGa is like SWGa....don't know where all the skunks went a few years back....probably distemper as the grey fox all but disappeared about then too.

I dont touch a skunky trap. Dont want that trap anymore. Just going to contaminate everything I own. Last year kill the skunk. Left brand new = MJ 600 Sterling JC Conner shock bar 4 swivels and 8 ft of chain Saber Tooth drag. Im not kidding. I am NOT driving homw with that stinking mess for no 1055 miles smelling up my truck. I catch a skunk. You can have that trap. NEVER want it back! Its yours!!! I have caught lots of coyotes when I was young in = Skunky traps but now? NO !!! Want touch them. Aint worth it to me for no 70 dollar trap rigge

Man I wish I lived near you! I’d have a new trap every time you caught a skunk!

I know! I was thinking I’d provide postage for him to send them my way!

Bob you could have it!!! Dont have hardly any skunks in the south. I trap 365 a year except for travel. And have caught 1 in about 2014 In south Alabama. And One in Central - West Texas. Just flat out left = dead skunk in MJ 600 and said to friend = You can have that trap. Life is to short to mess with skunky traps. LOL!

MB 550s where fairly new. So 2009 ? Maybe. Had 1 skunked. Shot skunk dead. Month latter. Came back. Picked up trap. Dumped trap in tomato juice. It sat for 1 month. Still could smell skunk. Gave to neighbors kid. He put in barn to air out. Dont know what happened after that. So = 2009 ~2023. Lost 3 traps to skunks. You can have the next 1. But I ant touching it

If u trapped where there was more skunks you would learn a better method of dispatch. Lol
I actually like catching skunks. Not a lot of catches on skunk remakes here but they are better than possum and coon remakes. Maybe cause they are more common here they don't get as much interest....???

Lol if I tossed every trap that caught a skunk I wouldn’t have any left. I only fur trap, and I usually end up with close to a dozen of them. I don’t mind the smell. I’ve been sprayed 3 times, twice directly in the face. It burns something fierce when it gets in your eyes! Tomato juice is a wives tale. 1 quart peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda and a tablespoon of dawn dishsoap, scrub down with that and it’s like it never happened.

I even skin the stinkers. I’ve got pretty good at it, usually after I’m done I come inside and my wife can’t tell I been anywhere near one. They sure make a pretty pelt

Here might be a better question. . . How come more trappers aren't dispatching their captured skunk, without incident ?
Meaning : without the skunk spraying ?

I seldom ever have a skunk spray in a trap, regardless of the trap used.
That technique was widely shown back in the 1980's using a syringe pole and acetone , still used by many trappers today. Skunk essence is worth good money
and worth saving. If you have good clean essence, you can't keep it in stock. Every lure maker wants it .
The drained pods (scent glands) are in high demand as well. Even the fat scraped and the skinned carcass itself is worth money.

But I digress . . .
Skunk essence spayed DIRECTLY on the trap can, and I say CAN, cause a 'bare metal' spot to rust.
Skunk essence on a trap can allow a canine to detect it, beneath the soil, causing a digging response.
Now, everything being equal and, the entire area smells like skunk . . .and you will too, before it's over, then you do your best to clean the trap off and reset the area
In most cases , you'll do fine
But every now and then, a canine picks up the overwhelming spot of the essence and at times NEW RUST and digs out the trap.

3 thinks in trapping I want do ! Work in the ran = set a skunky trap = or use a Duke trap again! LoL!

I have only had to dispatch 3 or 4 skunks in my life. I feel lucky!!!!!! Just shootem. Kill them . Come back month later for trap. Alabama actual has or had = Hunting Fish reg book = kinf you get at Wal- Mart = inside it had = Have you seen this skunk picture? Had call 1 800 # and everything. Endangered Skunk?? I say = good redence! LOL!

2 skunks in the last 6 years…not gonna carry around something I might need every 3 years. Heck I’d lose it or forget where I put it. The smell does go away over time I guess. Or it’s just been cleaned enough it went away.
I have never (knock on wood again) had a trap dug up. Skunky trap in a skunk smelling area or using a skunk lure or bait and I don’t think he’s going to pinpoint a buried trap when the other smells would be stronger and more prevalent. Could be wrong though. Hadn’t caught enough skunks to learn that lesson.
And Steeltraps…that’s the exact same thing I said after the first. Dispatch and let the landowner know where it would be, but the area was just too good.

I absolutely love to catch skunks! Sorta like being in a suspense movie where you have to defuse a bomb. Once you learn to properly dispatch them, it's all profit!

Essence isnt quite as lucrative as it once was.

I just shoot ‘em. Much faster than screwing around with a dispatch pole. And if you lung them, you can still put up a good amount of stink juice.

I get that ~20scout. But its like = modifing traps. One guy loves it because it saves money. Another guy. Like me looks at it like this. With traps I dont have to modifiy. I can spend more time trapping and make morw money. So is it worth it ? I honestly have no idea. 3 or 4 skunks in 15 years or more aint gone to make it worth it. So seriously? What a skunk worth? Essance ? Skin? Fat ? What is the = total all in value of a = Alabama skunk. Case I catch 1 in March ?

I agree

So how many skunks do y’all catch a year? I’m at one every 3 years, and technically I didn’t catch the last one my son did. So I myself am at one every 6 or 7 now. Some things just aren’t worth it to me as far as getting everything for a no spray dispatch. Not that it would matter because I knew when I got out of the truck what it was, which leads me to another question. Do they spray when caught in a foothold? Or maybe even a conibear?

Haven't. Caught one yet but one place I trap I seen 3 cross the road at different times so I guess it's only a matter of time.

Wanna Be. I have the same question? Only skunk didnt spray when shot ? Was shot in self defense! 2012. Jackson County Alabama. Hunting. 450 acre corn field. Got out of tripod. Walked 1/2 mile up creek. Ran into skunk! He would not let me cross only crossing in creek. Didnt want to walk 2 miles round him. He would not yeld. Tried to run him off. He refused. Then. He pointed the = bussiness end at me. Fired a 300 gr OTM Berger bullet into him from 338 Lapua In self defense. Never sprayed a drop

Most years I catch around a dozen while fur trapping

Ok. Im in. Whats a dz skunks worth??? 20 x12 is 240 dollars. Im not looking to cut anyone out of the market. Just curious on what you get for 1 skunk all in on. •*=== everything it worth?

juice and hide(dried not tanned) should put you close 200 if the pods are mostly full. Hides have been up a bit lately.

To be clear I never try to catch skunks, but they seem to find me lol. I never worried about how much they bring. Enough to pay for a few gallons of fuel to check bobcat traps. The smell dont bother me much

I had 18 one day. All incidentals in coyote sets. Nothing to catch triple digits if you’re serious.

Caught in coon boxes they don’t spray. Just being caught in a foothold at most, they let out a quick shot being startled by the trap.

I lung shoot all mine, most let out a small, quick shot when the bullet hits them. Some don’t spray at all. I still probably average 1/2-3/4 oz of essence per skunk. Some far more.

The only spray from a hit with that round was the whole skunk, lol. Probably vaporized the stinker.

I’ve always wondered how long it takes a skunk to replenish essence.

It must take a while as most skunks act like they really don’t want to spray. You can actually get away with quite a bit of shenanigans with most. It’s a rare one that has a hair trigger.

I’ll leave that up to y’all to figure out, lol. If it’s another 6 years before I catch another it will be 6 years too soon!!

I have a market for the skull or whole head, feet, hide, fat and quill. Summer months there is no fat to be had and although the fur may not be prime, I still can sell to tourists or fly fisherman for tying flies. Let's say I got a nice prime one late in the season and get $15 for the fur, $20/oz for the quill, $3 for the skull and another $3 for the feet. If I get a full oz of quill out of it that makes $41 plus what ever I can get for the fat. I'm sure I can find a market for the glands and perhaps the carcass to bait makers. All sorts of options, you just have to look.

Generally 1-2 weeks to recharge.

Kit skunks tend to be more hair triggered. Seems like skunks that have been trapped and relocated get hair triggered. You can pretty much tell the ones that are going to spray you no matter what you do. Had a few that as soon as I came into view they spray.

Skunks. Ha!
We got em. But we are in a down cycle right now.